Publications

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01 Dec 2013
News

Curing Health Care

Prescriptions: Free the Data! Build a Killer App Measure Health Care's Real Costs Make Medicine Personal Leverage Human Nature Integrate Preventive Care and Payment BUSH: A passionate advocate for improving health care efficiency and... View Details

Keywords: Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance; Management; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

25 Sep 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Corporate Purpose and Firm Ownership

Keywords: by Claudine Gartenberg and George Serafeim

March 2025
Case

Fostering Community at Airbnb (A)

By: Jeffrey T. Polzer, Heather Whiteman and Sarah Mehta

Set in November 2020, this case explores Airbnb’s efforts to foster a culture of belonging, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company’s workforce. It details how Airbnb used employee surveys and organizational network analysis (ONA)—a... View Details

Keywords: Change; Communication; Competency and Skills; Human Resources; Surveys; Information Technology; Health Pandemics; Organizational Culture; Networks; Accommodations Industry; Technology Industry; Travel Industry; United States; California

June 2024
Case

Metub: Scaling Influence beyond Vietnam

By: Paul A. Gompers and Shu Lin

Founded in 2014, Metub was a leading video and talent network in Vietnam. It managed over 3,000 channels on YouTube and more than 3,000 content creators. To expand creators’ income opportunities across multiple platforms, Metub had diversified beyond its original... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Business or Company Management; Brands and Branding; Competition; Diversification; Expansion; Recruitment; Entrepreneurship; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Viet Nam; Southeast Asia

December 2021 (Revised May 2022)
Case

Troverie (A)

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Lindsay N. Hyde and Olivia Graham

Six months after the August 2018 launch of Troverie, a U.S.-based online retailer of luxury watches, the average cost of acquiring a customer is much higher than originally projected, and the startup is incurring a substantial loss on each sales transaction. Could... View Details

Keywords: Startup; Luxury Goods; Customer Acquisition; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Luxury; Failure; Internet and the Web; Revenue; Fashion Industry; United States

March 2020 (Revised June 2020)
Case

Social Salary Setting at Spiber

By: Ashley Whillans and John Beshears

Can a “set your own salary” system boost employee happiness and motivation? Spiber made synthetic silk built from proteins mimicking the proteins found in spider silk, the world’s toughest known material by weight. Kazuhide Sekiyama and Junichi Sugahara established... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Motivation and Incentives; Happiness; Negotiation Tactics; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Biotechnology Industry; Japan; United States

January 2019 (Revised July 2021)
Case

Analytical Space: The Next Frontier?

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Jeffrey J. Bussgang and David Lane

With one satellite aloft and in the midst of beta testing in late 2018, Analytical Space founders Justin Oliveira and Dan Nevius turned to critical questions about the pioneering startup’s go-to-market, pricing, and business development strategy. Analytical Space aimed... View Details

Keywords: Pricing Decisions; Demand Validation; Revenue Model; Business Development; Space Tech; Satellites; Earth Observation; Remote Sensing; Business Startups; Emerging Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Finance; Selection and Staffing; Business Strategy; Aerospace Industry

January 2018
Article

The Effect of Cost Sharing on an Employee Weight Loss Program: A Randomized Trial

By: Leslie K. John, Andrea Troxel, William Yancy, Joelle Y. Friedman, Jingsan Zhu, Lin Yang, Robert Galvin, Karen Miller-Kovach, Scott Halpern, George Loewenstein and Kevin Volpp

Purpose: We tested the effects of employer subsidies on employee enrollment, attendance, and weight loss in a nationally-available weight management program.
Design: A randomized trial tested the impact of employer subsidy: 100%; 80% 50% and a hybrid 50% subsidy... View Details

Keywords: Affordable Care Act (ACA); Subsidies; Weight Loss; Obesity; Incentives; Behavioral Economics; Motivation and Incentives; Behavior; Health Disorders; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; United States

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April 2011 (Revised January 2015)
Case

The Eleganzia Group

By: Elie Ofek, Elena Corsi, Bharat Sajnani, Sorina Casian-Botez and Francesco Tronci

Eleganzia Group management faces tough decisions heading into the summer of 2010. With tourism on the decline due to the global economic recession, General Manager Giannuzzi must decide how to set prices at the Forte Village Resort, the Group's most well-known... View Details

Keywords: Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Customer Management; Branding; Customer Relationship Management; Price; Luxury; Business Strategy; Brands and Branding; Accommodations Industry; Travel Industry; Italy

2008
Chapter

A New Generation of Pension Fund Management

By: Robert C. Merton

In talking about pension plans at this point in American economic and corporate history, we need to discuss three linked issues: the defined-benefit (DB) corporate plans that worked for our parents; the defined-contribution (DC) plans we're getting today because... View Details

Keywords: Asset Management; Investment Funds; Compensation and Benefits; Risk Management; Retirement; United States

January 2002
Background Note

A Note on Incentives in the NFL

By: Brian J. Hall and Jonathan Lim

This case describes compensation and incentive issues in one of the major U.S. professional sports leagues, the National Football League (NFL). It first provides some background information on the labor market for players and the salary cap and then describes incentive... View Details

Keywords: Compensation and Benefits; Labor and Management Relations; Conflict and Resolution; Motivation and Incentives; Sports; Sports Industry; United States

June 2001
Case

Cerner Corporation (A)

By: D. Quinn Mills and Matt Salloway

The CEO thinks people are not working long enough hours. He sends a memo. This series describes the backlash. View Details

Keywords: Crisis Management; Management Style; Leadership Style; Nonverbal Communication; Employees; Organizational Culture; Health Industry

November 1993
Case

Thurgood Marshall High School

By: John J. Gabarro

Presents the problem facing a newly appointed high-school principal. Raises issues about interpersonal and group behavior including lack of open conflict resolution and the need to intervene in an interpersonal conflict. Also raises the issue of intergroup conflict... View Details

Keywords: Problems and Challenges; Conflict and Resolution; Employee Relationship Management; Secondary Education; Groups and Teams; Education Industry